Alchemy Guide by Spiffly 1-60
So you want to level up the craft Alchemy? You've come to the right guide. At least if you only plan to level it to 60 anyway. Firstly i should add that this guide is a work in progress. The work being me actually finishing writing it. The crafting to level 60 side of things, i've already done. First question: why should you level Alchemy? There's some gil to be made in it, if you research hard enough. Whether you can consider it a lot of gil, i'm not sure. Alchemy is typically about mass producing to make any gil, unlike Smithing for example where crafters there are always chasing that HQ for the big bucks. If you aren't in it for the gil then you'll be leveling it as a sub-craft to another craft. Here's what i recommend you do: *'Go farm:' And i don't just mean kill things. Fishing is an incredibly useful accompanying craft to have when you're trying to level Alchemy. Alteratively, make as much use of vendors as possible. Especially the Alchemy guild. *'Level your sub-crafts:' Smithing to 14 as a minimum. You will regret not doing. *'Make use of adv. synth support:' This applies to all crafts really. You will need it. Level 1-10 (4) Black Ink x 2: Fish up your Nebimonites.. Buy tea leaves from the Sarutabaruta regional vendor. Black Ink sells well on the AH as it's used to make Shihei. You should make a profit here. *Dark Crystal *Distilled Water *Nebimonite *Windurstian Tea Leaves x 2 ---- (6) Tsurara x 10: The easier option to begin your Alchemy journey. rock salt and distilled water can bought be cheaply bought from many different vendors. Depending on the price of ice crystals, you will either operate at a small loss or profit. *Ice Crystal *Distilled Water x 2 *Rock Salt ---- (7) Animal Glue -''' This can be a proftiable synth if AH prices are in your favour. Other than the distilled water, buy everything from the AH. '''Remember to save one for your test item at level 10. *Fire Crystal *Bone Chip x 2 *Distilled Water *Rabbit Hide ---- (9) Cornstarch: Purely a gil sink synth but worth a mention. Simple recipe. Vendor sells your millicorn. *Lightning Crystal *Millioncorn x 2 ---- Test Item :Animal Glue: Hopefully you saved one earlier on but if not, these will usually be stocked on the AH. ---- Level 11-20 (12) Poison Dust: Poison Dust is the start of a 3 step progression synth, the next two steps being Mercury and Poison Potion. Fish up Yellow Globes in Buburimu Peninsula. They are usually well stocked at the AH also. Craft as much dust as necessary to move on to the next synth, mercury. *Lightning Crystal *Yellow Globe x 2 ---- (16) Mercury: The cobalt jellyfish you need here are either stocked at the alchemy guild or readily available on the AH. If the guild hasn't been recently cleaned out, it's always cheaper than AH. Again, craft as many as necessary to move on to posion potions. *Lightning Crystal *Cobalt Jellyfish x 4 ---- (18) Poison Potion -''' Step 3 of 3. Use up all of the poison dust and mercury from the last 2 synths. If you bought all of your mats, you may be able to AH these at break even, depending on the going price. '''Remember to save one for the test item at level 20. *Water Crystal *Poison Potion *Mercury ---- (20) Echo Drops: These are included as a bridge recipe. The next synth usually comes in at a loss until you can HQ. Echo drops can usualy be crafted quite cheaply and sell well on the AH. Honey can be bought on the AH, the water and sage from vendor. *Water Crystal *Distilled Water *Honey *Sage ---- Test Item :Poison Potion: Same as the previous test item. Save one or buy one from the AH. ---- Level 21-30 (24) Silent Oil x 4: As said earlier, these are a gil sink when levling alchemy. Unfortunately, there aren't many alternatives. Craft as many of these as necessary and then move on to the next synth. I would look to progress to blinding potions by level 20/21. A way to keep costs down is to farm beehive Chips and craft your own beeswax. Sell the oils on the AH. *Water Crystal *Beeswax x 2 *Slime Oil ---- (27/28) Blinding Potion: There's 2 recipes you can use here. The first is level 27, the second level 28. If you're happy to go fish, take the nebimonite route. As before, mercury can be crafted by fishing or purchasing cobalt jellyfish from the guild vendor. The alternative is to buy everything from vendor/AH which unfortunately is quite an expensive gil sink but hey, if that's your flex... Whichever route you take, save your blinding potions as they're useful later on. Remember to save one for the level 30 test item. *Water Crystal *Crying Mustard *Poison Flour *Sleepshroom OR *Lightning Crystal *Mercury *Nebimonite ---- (29) Silent Oil x 2: An alternative recipe if you prefer to take an alternative path. If you're happy to sink gil, this is an easy synth to go with. Olive oil is readily available with standard vendors. Sell the oils on the AH. *Water Crystal *Beeswax x 2 *Olive Oil ---- Test Item :Blinding Potion: Hopefully you saved one earlier on. Alternatively, they *may* be stocked on the AH or available at a vendor in Rabao. ---- Level 31-40 At this stage in your alchemy journey, i recommend that you take a break from alchemy to level Smithing to level 14. It's a useful sub-craft which comes into use at alchemy (31) and the very next recipe in this guide. It will also be used in at least 1 other recipe later on. Unfortunately i have written no guide as of yet to assist. From my own personal experience, it's quite easy to get smithing to 14. The reputation it has for being expensive only kicks in later on. If you decide agaist smithing, i have tried to include alternative recipes but do bear in mind, these may not always be as viable and cost effective to use. ---- (31/Smithing 14) Blind Bolt Heads x 6: One use of the previously crafted Blinding Potions. You can craft your own Animal Glue or maybe you were smart and saved some? Try to pick up Bronze Ingots from the Smithing guild to save gil. Blind bolt heads usually sell well enough on the AH to cover costs and maybe even make a profit. *Wind Crystal *Animal Glue *Blinding Potion *Bronze Ingot ---- (32) Blind Dagger: A similar but alternative recipe to blind bolt heads. Uses similar ingredients, including the previously crafted blinding potions. Bronze daggers can be bought from several vendors. Blind daggers will sell slowly on the AH so you will likely end up vendoring your end product, at a loss. *Water Crystal *Animal Glue *Blinding Potion *Bronze Dagger ---- (34) Blind Knife: I used this recipe as a bridge to Potions at 40. Your aim is to hit level 32 and then move on. Again, similar ingredients to blind bolt heads and the knives can be purchased from vendors. Blind knives will sell slowly on the AH so you will likely end up vendoring your end product, at a loss. *Water Crystal *Animal Glue *Blinding Potion *Bronze Knife ---- (38/Smithing 13) Bronze Bullet x 33: This recipe has the potential to turn a profit and could be a viable alternative. It all depends on the cost of Firesand and the sale price of the bullets. Do your research beforehand. Bronze ingots can be bought from the smithing guild. *Fire Crystal *Bronze Ingot *Firesand ---- (40) Potion: Finally, a simple skill-up recipe. Lizard tails can generally be found on the AH dirt cheap. Everything else can be bought from vendors quite cheaply. Re-sell your potions back to a vendor. You will not turn a profit on this recipe but you won't care. *Water Crystal *Distilled Water *Lizard Tail *Sage ---- Test Item :Firesand: You can craft your own if you wish but i recommend picking one up from the AH. ---- 41-50 To be continued!